Review: The Perfect Neighbor

Official Synopsis: A minor disagreement between neighbors in Florida takes a lethal turn, with police body camera footage and interviews probing the aftermath of the state's controversial "stand your ground" laws.

When the Gotham Award nominations were announced the other day, someone kindly posted on Blue Sky where you could watch a handful of the nominated films on streaming. This documentary is currently on Netflix, and despite trending at #2 as I write this, I somehow completely missed it. 

This documentary is not only a very necessary commentary on Florida's "stand your ground" laws but it's a test of endurance. Because you will be watching lot of bullshit unfold and you're only going to get madder as it goes on. Murderer Susan Lorincz called the police on the children in her neighborhood for having the audacity to play in a field near her apartment that was NOT her property so many times that there was enough body cam footage of it to make a feature length movie. Let that sink in. 

What brings Murderer Susan Lorincz's reign of annoying terror on her neighborhood to an end, is when she shoots and kills Ajike Owens, a mother of four who came to Murderer Susan Lorincz's door after she harassed her children. She shot her through a closed door.

There's no reenactments or talking heads to be found here. Some of the footage is so intimate that I felt like I shouldn't be watching it. Like Ajike's kids finding out she didn't make it. That broke my heart, and I don't think I'll ever be able to get that out of my mind. What frustrated me the most, aside from this menace's behavior is how the police treated her. Most of them took out their kid gloves for her. And this is yet another problem with these stand your ground laws. They benefit one type of human. No one can watch this and say the police would behave the same way if the roles were reversed.

There are so many things that need to be fixed here, and I'm glad millions of people currently have their eyes on this doc. I hope those that didn't see the issues with the language in these laws or didn't acknowledge that racism plays a big part in them do now. It's a big ask.

Ajike Owens deserved better. She seemed to be well loved in her community and it's a shame they no longer have her. I hope her kids, friends, and family are doing okay.  It can't be easy knowing millions are watching you at your most vulnerable moments, but I have to hope something good comes from this.

Grade: B+